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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 850
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In Memory |
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of |
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Jimmy Dean |
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WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas honors and |
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commemorates the life of Jimmy Dean, who died June 13, 2010, at |
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the age of 81; and |
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WHEREAS, Jimmy Dean overcame childhood poverty and a lack |
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of formal education to become one of the most recognized faces in |
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the country as an iconic country singer and entertainer and as |
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spokesman for the successful sausage company that bore his name; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Jimmy Dean was born August 10, 1928, and grew up |
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in Plainview; his mother taught him to play piano and he went on |
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to pick up guitar, harmonica, and accordion; he dropped out of |
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school after the ninth grade to join the United States Merchant |
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Marine, where he spent two years before enlisting in the United |
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States Air Force; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Dean began his musical career while serving at |
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Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, sitting in at a local bar |
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for a fiddler who had called in sick; by the early 1950s, he was |
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the frontman for the Texas Wildcats, playing on the radio and at |
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county and state fairs; and |
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WHEREAS, He recorded his first hit song in 1953 and in 1961 |
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recorded "Big Bad John," a song about a miner who died saving his |
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fellow workers in a mine collapse that spent five weeks at number |
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one on the Billboard charts; he hosted a variety show on the ABC |
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television network from 1963 until 1966 and appeared in several |
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television series and films, including the James Bond thriller |
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Diamonds Are Forever; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Dean headlined at venues like Carnegie Hall |
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and the Hollywood Bowl and was the first country star to play on |
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the Las Vegas strip; he was the first guest host on The Tonight |
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Show and recorded several more hit songs, including "P.T. 109," |
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"Sam Hill," and "I.O.U.," a spoken-word song dedicated to his |
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mother; he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, He created the Jimmy Dean Meat Company in |
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Plainview in 1969 and for more than three decades served as its |
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spokesman on television, representing its products with his |
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Texas charm; and |
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WHEREAS, A man of honor, strength, and determination, he |
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will long be remembered for his generous spirit and his many |
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accomplishments, which have enriched the culture of our state and |
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nation; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 82nd |
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Legislature, hereby pay tribute to the life and legacy of Jimmy |
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Dean; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared in |
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memory of this hometown Texas icon, and that when the Senate |
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adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Jimmy Dean. |
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Duncan |
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President of the Senate |
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I hereby certify that the |
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above Resolution was adopted by |
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the Senate on May 3, 2011, by a |
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rising vote. |
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________________________________ |
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Secretary of the Senate |
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________________________________ |
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Member, Texas Senate |